Lazing Beam
Lazing, although still the most powerful form of destruction the galaxy has to offer, the ability to laze has actually been around in the galaxy for as long as the current generation can remember. Lazing is a particulary advanced idea for something so out-dated and it involves splitting energy atoms in a great molecular fan on a concentrated point. The result is a massive energy beam that is capable of decimating entire buildings in seconds. As the ship controlling the beam moves, the beam of destruction will spread across the surface until the target is eventually destroyed. Lazing has been used across the galaxy by many different nations, particulary the IWA. Their main job is to burn cities to put fear into the city's inhabitants but sometimes Lazing Beams will be directed against other targets such as military bases, weapon installations, or even other ships if one gets lucky enough. The Lazing Beam was not really an invention as it was an idea that culminated over a long time ago. It was first put into practice many years ago, when miners would use a small version of the modern Lazing Beam to burn a hole in the rock. Several civiliztions at war observed this tactic of rock cutting and decided to try to put it into a weapon of mass destruction. For two years, the civilizations raced to see who could be the first one to invent the Lazing Beam. The IWA was particulary hasty about the Lazing Beam and built several basic prototypes on ships and tested them out in live battle. One of two things would always happen when they tried this. Either the ship would explode by attempting to fire the Lazing Beam without interior shields around the firing mechanism or they would fire the Lazing Beam and the shields put up around the interior of the firing mechanism would melt and then the ship would explode. On the rare occasion when the ship actually succeeded in firing the Lazing Beam, it would only last for a few seconds because the massive amount of energy needed to sustain the beam would be drained and the ship would crash. Finally, the Astatian Alliance in a surprise move were the ones who came up with the idea of a successful Lazing Beam by observing the IWA failures and fixing them. To sustain the shields inside the interior of the cannon, the Astatian Alliance simply made the concentration of the beam greater and widened the size of the cannon. That way, the lazer would be more powerful even if it covered a smaller area and the shields wouldn't be under direct pressure from the strenght of the cannon. To fix the problem with the beam draining the power cells, the Astatian Alliance simply turned off the weapon systems and shield systems on their ships in order for the new recharging cells could sustain the beam. This could prove to be a serious weakness in the ship but at least it would be able to continuely fire the beam. The Astatian Alliance design of the Lazing Beam became the standerd for all future ones built, with a few modification to make them more powerful or the ships more protected.